Overview
Mount Vernon is located on the northern border of New York City. It is the eighth largest city in New York State and the third largest city in the county of Westchester. The city is on the Bronx River and the Hutchinson River. Mount Vernon is within a 15-minute drive of Manhattan and a half-hour train ride to Grand Central Terminal.

Mount Vernon has a large amount of commercial industry which boosts the city’s economy, with industries such as manufacturing, electronics, engineering, and high tech mainly located in the Southside section of the city. The city is home to the headquarters of Zelco Industries Inc., Unitex, and Clickable Enterprises Inc., as well as Capri Album Inc. and Spl Integrated Solutions’ northeast branch. Mount Vernon is also home to Columbus Construction Co., who helped at Ground Zero during the World Trade Center cleanup in lower Manhattan. Mount Vernon also has an established Empire Zone for commercial and industrial use located in the southern portion of the city which has attracted manufacturing companies and nationally recognized businesses.

Possibly owing to the city’s African American majority, each mayor elected since the 1980’s has been black. The uninterrupted string of black mayors in excess of twenty years is a first for any in the New York metropolitan area and the Northeast. However the city has an enormously diverse population for its size. Over 98 different nationalities call the city home. One in 10 people in Mount Vernon is from Brazil, and according to estimates by the city and the Brazilian Consulate in New York, two-thirds of those Brazilians are from Poços de Caldas, a blue-collar city of 140,000 in the mountains of southeastern Brazil.

The Brazilian community is heavily concentrated in an area along and near West Lincoln Ave., from its beginning at the corner of Mt. Vernon Ave. going about half a mile down to Gramatan Ave., and has begun to spread into East Lincoln Avenue. Brazilian stores line commercial areas in these parts of Mount Vernon (especially within Gramatan Ave. from the railroad tracks to Lincoln Ave. and adjacent blocks), and neighborhood public schools have brought in teachers and counselors who speak Portuguese. The language can be heard on the streets throughout this area.

History
In 1850, John Stevens, a merchant tailor from New York City, set out to improve the condition of the working class in New York. Among his goals was to create a property-holding class out of rent payers. To this end he organized the Industrial Home Association No. 1 of New York. Qualifications for membership were moral character, industrious habits and the desire to promote a common purpose.

1,017 due-paying members joined the Association, which purchased the land that then became the Village of Mount Vernon. It consisted of five farms with a combined area of about 370 acres, costing a total of $75,342.88, or roughly $205 per acre. The land extended from what is now Union Avenue on the east to Fifteenth Avenue on the west; and from Valentine Street on the north to Sandford Boulevard and a small portion of Kingsbridge on the south.

Mount Vernon at this time consisted mainly of farm lands crossed by two important railroads, the New York and Harlem (that already had a station there) and the New York and New Haven (that had no station until the Industrial Home Association built one for it). Central Mount Vernon remained mostly undeveloped until Charles Crary bought land on Chester Hill in 1869. He laid out orderly building lots and placed restrictions on the use of the lots and who could purchase them. Chester Hill became a privileged community.

Mount Vernon was officially incorporated as a city in 1892.

Population: 68,321

Demographics
African American: 59.58%
White 28.63%
Hispanic: 8.33%
Asian: 2.12%
Other: 1.34%

Median income: $47,128

Neighborhoods
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is an upscale residential and business neighborhood situated between the commercial and business district of Downtown to the south and the affluent residential and historic village of Bronxville to the north. It is roughly bounded by Rt.22 to the east, Lincoln Avenue to the south and the Bronx River Parkway to the west.

Fleetwood is “The small town inside the city.” It is the neighborhood of many homes and residential mid-rises. The neighborhood has three of the nations well known banks which are HSBC, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Bank of New York under Chase Manhattan Banking. This particular area of Mount Vernon has great four star restaurants with a blend of Italian and Spanish dishes served at the top of the menu.

Fleetwood is like the Midtown of Mount Vernon composed of busy thoroughfares, including Mount Vernon’s famous Gramatan Avenue. Lined by mid-rise condos and local store front businesses alongside one another that are home to the city’s best boutiques, candy shops, grocery marts, dining outlets, and busy shopping areas. Gramatan Avenue in this area has become known as Mount Vernon’s “Grandeur Main Street,” and it is developing into an authentic 8-block urban premiere business corridor that will, according to inside sources, rival White Plains Main Street, Yonkers Getty Square, and New Rochelle’s North Avenue. It is also home to quiet residential areas populated by Victorian, American Four-Square, early-20th-century bungalow-style homes, and educational facilities. Fleetwood’s focal point is to attract more development for luxury living as well as a thriving business and nightlife area. The roundabout at Gramatan and Lincoln Avenues is the door to its grand entrance.

Fleetwood is currently a fast-growing upscale community with appreciating land and property values, as land is a precious commodity in this urban area. As residents and new comers alike begin to return and come to this area of city following decades of suburban retreat from the busy and noisy life of Manhattan, Fleetwood offers an attractive mix of amenities and attractions, as well as proximity to Manhattan offices and destinations though the Metro North railroad. The recent construction and opening of the roundabout over the Downtown Connector has reconnected Fleetwood with the Downtown of the city along Gramatan Avenue. It connects Fleetwood to new and improved downtown setting along Gramatan Avenue.

Downtown/Southside
Downtown Mount Vernon is one of the largest business districts in the county of Westchester and New York metro area. The tallest building in Mount Vernon the Saratoga, sits at the center of Petrels Plaza, a major transit and residential area of the downtown which is set for massive redevelopment. The Saratoga is one of the tallest residential buildings in the county, and the one of the tallest residential buildings in a downtown setting in the county. Downtown Mount Vernon is the heart of the city. This area contains striking architecture dating as far back as the early 1900’s.

In 2004 the Sanford Boulevard revitalization project went under way. This was a major urban renewal project along this once thriving corridor which over time begun to decay. The project was meant to economically revitalize the South Side and provide jobs to low income and unemployed residents in the city. Companies that were included in this project were Target, Starbucks, Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples, Best Buy, Famous Footwear, Stop & Shop, T.J. Maxx, Petco, and Restaurant Depot. Future projects to help the city on a citywide scale are residential and mixed-use office and retail projects.